


I'll Take Care Of You

by DiverVicky



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Comfort, Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26490523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiverVicky/pseuds/DiverVicky
Summary: Natasha is sick. Bruce is there to comfort her.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	I'll Take Care Of You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [codysspinkicks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/codysspinkicks/gifts).



2012 had been an unbelievably hectic year. Between the Avengers' first assembly, massive clean-ups, the upcoming battles, and keeping up with their new public image, they hadn't had much time left to spend in team-bonding exercises.

Doctor Bruce Banner didn't have much room for me-time, either.

Receiving 2013 with a fuck-ton of paperwork and team meetings, Bruce was barely coming to terms with his new reality. From the very start, it had been made clear, though rather indirectly, that his place in the team was mainly granted for the green rage monster. At least, SHIELD saw it that way, -though a little brainy help from him always came welcome to them-. This didn't stop Tony from saving him a spot in the labs - He seemed to be one of the few willing to see beyond the Hulk, even going as far as making the labs Hulk-proof; Tony might be a dork at times, but he wasn't _totally_ careless.

It was one of Bruce's favorite places to be. The cool, white, esterilized atmosphere from the labs, totally contrasting the last filthy spot he had to call home back in some wasteland in India.

That day, though, was not one of those lovely days in which he could sink into a sea of equations and experiments along with Tony - He'd have to do so, alone. JARVIS was not bad company, he told himself, after a long and informative talk with the A.I. about Tony's Captain America fanboy phase. It was after-battle clean-up day and half the team had been assigned with the task of helping the clean-up volunteers after a relatively rough battle with, thankfully, no casualties. Doombots, he assumed.

Widow, though, hadn't been allowed into the mission- After an apparently routine mission, she had fell sick. Nothing too bad, just a cold. Though she had tried to ease the team's concern on her minor sickness, Clint wouldn't give in and finally convinced her on staying while they did the clean-up themselves.

She was perhaps, like Tony, a member of the team he had to admit to have taken a liking to. Natasha had already assured him a while ago there were no hard feelings left from their… _Unpleasant encounter_ , between the Hulk and Widow, not to mention what she initially pulled to lure him into the team. Bruce still wasn't over his initial guilt over the Hulk very nearly ending Natasha, and through his natural shy way to be, he had tried to be cordial - As he could possibly be, spending most of his time down at the labs.

That way, a quite unexpected friendship of sorts began to blossom between the two of them. It was inevitable, given to them being in the same team and everything that went down between them; But they eventually became very close. Bruce appreciated that - It had been years since he could call anyone a true "friend". The fact that this was maybe the most secretive and mysterious woman he had ever known also made him take some pride in managing to befriend her.

After finishing a rather stressful experiment involving unbreakable glass, -given that the least they wanted to deal with was tiny shards of glass if the Hulk ever decided to come out and play Jenga with the Stark Tower,- Bruce decided to have a rest at the common living room. He expected to find Natasha down there, sharpening a blade and cleaning up her pistols and doing all her casual assassin stuff he couldn't begin to understand and he hoped he never had to. Just not his thing.

What he did not expect was to find a sneezy, constipated mess of a red-head, lying on the couch with a box of tissues by her side and a reddish button of a nose, obviously clogged.

"Mrs. Romanoff?" Bruce called, not too loud, as he entered the room- He was sure she had sensed he was coming from before he even set foot on the first pair of steps. Trained spy assassins were weird like that.

"Doctor Banner," Widow acknowledged him from the couch. Her voice was nasal and sligtly shakey. "Had a good time down at the lab?"

"A blast." Answered Bruce with a smile, walking over to the couch. "May I?"

She nodded, taking a tissue and blowing her nose. Bruce sat by her, at the edge of the couch. Chatting a bit wouldn't hurt.

"My hair is a mess. I could use some help," She held out a hair ribbon, and Bruce had no problem tying it up rather skillfully. He himself had to deal with messy, untameable hair sometimes as well.

"I'm not at my peak today. Something must have done wonders to mess with my immune system."

"Yeah, I can see that," He didn't think before leading the back of his hand to Natasha's forehead, to which she just closed her eyes. "You have a mild fever. Nothing severe, should go away in a couple of days given the right medication."

It was never a bother to help a sickly teammate. The doctor couldn't help recalling his time in India, when he had to treat the illnesses that blossomed from those bad wastelands like a plague. _Horrible plagues after another, children with blocked lungs, old people with heavy hearts..._

Natasha seemed to notice his sudden depressing train of thought. She put a hand on his shoulder from where she was, as a subtle way to comfort him.

Before the spy could say anything, she fell into a coughing fit. Bruce could only wait it out. After a while, she dedicated a small smile to the scientist; Bruce could tell it wasn't one of those practiced, proper smiles she'd normally offer people, a fact which would usually go unnoticed. Not quite fake, but barely reaching a real one.

Curiously, Banner could recognize it.

"Mild fever. Must have been from getting myself soaked wet in the middle of the night when that water-cooled cpu's cooling system collapsed on me during a mission. Completely ruined my make up." Both chuckled at that comment. Natasha could be pretty sympathetic when she wanted to be.

Bruce shook his head, smiling.

"I saw you jump from a three-stories building trusting Tony to catch you with the suit during a battle. They aired it everywhere. Sometimes I think all these missions got you started to believe you're immortal."

"Who told you I'm not?" She looked at him dead-serious. If he didn't know better, he'd say the Widow had just turned murderous.

They sat for a while, casually chatting, -between Natasha's half-controlled coughs,- about the latest battle where the Hulk's epic tantrum took place, (which he took out on a poor Jeep nearby- thankfully, not something that kept place in Bruce's memory), Tony's newest update on the Widow bites, as well as the news that had reached JARVIS' servers, -who was still infiltrated in SHIELD'S database, and seeming to have gotten pretty comfortable in there-. News about the sensors having captured the sight of a feminine being, seemingly coming from the cosmos, and whose power seemed great but quite unknown; Yet, as fast as she came, she dissappeared once again from SHIELD's radars; the girl from the stars remained nameless.

"I'll go find you a cold compress from the freezer, that should help." Bruce patted her shoulder, friendly, and stood, walking toward the small fridge that stood across the room.

He came back with the cold jelly-like package and a cloth, which he wrapped and then gently placed on top of her forehead with the skill of the experienced doctor he was.

They stayed there in comfortable silence as Bruce fixed it to stay put. After he was done, Natasha spoke.

"I was thinking the team could use a constantly-available doctor around. For when we're far away and in true need of medical assitance. You could fill that job."

Bruce turned away, smiling with incredulous thankfulness - Still, he could see she was dead serious. When did the lethal Black Widow become so friendly?

"I'll be more than happy to fill that role, though the Other Guy might need some persuasion during the missions."

Natasha sat up. He moved aside, and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. She smiled briefly, grabbing his hand on hers.

"Thank you, Bruce." Said Natasha, closing her eyes to get some well-deserved rest.

Though brief, her smile was 100% genuine this time.

**Author's Note:**

> So. This fanfic is my attempt at a birthday gift to a very dear friend of mine. Happy birthday, bud! I hope you like it, and for you to get many more birthdays!


End file.
